Celebrating Fareham student design winners

As one of three housebuilders working with the Buckland Group on the Welborne Garden Village development, we set pupils at Boundary School a creative challenge to design sustainable homes for future communities. 

The competition gave pupils first‑hand experience of learning about sustainability principles and the early stages of architectural and construction planning. It also supported our ongoing work with local schools and its commitment to engaging young people in the future of the built environment.

 As part of its commitment to community engagement and future skills development, we partnered with Welborne Garden Village and Boundary Oak School to introduce pupils to the principles behind sustainable design and modern housebuilding. 

Welborne has been designed by the Buckland Group to be a sustainable, future‑proof community featuring a range of homes from one to five-bedrooms, alongside extensive green spaces and local amenities including shops, business premises, a pub/hotel and a doctor’s surgery. The new community will be one of the largest private housing developments of its kind in the UK.

The overall winner of the competition was Year 8 pupil Bruno, who stood out for his strong research into the Future Homes Standard and a solid understanding of early-stage design decisions. Bruno won £50, two x one-hour mentorship/career sessions and his own Pye Homes PPE kit including a hard hat, hi vis, glasses, and gloves.

Other year winners included a student from Year 10, for a design focused on the environmental impact of incorporating rainwater harvesting, solar panels, green roofs and recycled materials to make more sustainable houses. A Year 11 pupil, Noah, with a four-bedroom home design that featured a green roof and solar-powered system inspired by traditional water-circulation methods.  

Runners-up were Oscar from Year 5, who explored how eco-lighting could combat the ever-growing issue of light pollution, and Olivia (Year 6), who came up with sustainable solutions like a community compost hub for locals to dispose of their waste. 

Damian Read, Construction Director, Pye Homes, said: “Each submission reflects impressive effort and innovative thinking and they all come from differing angles. Bruno’s really stood out - the quality here surpasses many professional briefs, reflecting remarkable thought and dedication.” 

Joe Davis, Deputy Head Co‑Curricular at Boundary Oak School, said: “Congratulations to Bruno on being selected as the overall winner. It is wonderful to see the creativity, commitment, and individuality of all our pupils recognised through this competition. Every participant brought their own unique strengths, ideas, and perspectives to the challenge, and that is something we value deeply at Boundary Oak. I am delighted that Damian was able to recognise the qualities each pupil brought to the competition and celebrate the diverse skills and creativity on display.”